tannerose5 – I hope you liked how the team figured it out. Of course Garcia, who is miles away finds the confirmation evidence. Reid understands that he lost time. He also understands why Mary Anne didn't tell him. Now that she is older Mary Anne can talk to Winnie about her decision.
Village-Mystic – I wasn't going to do this to Reid. I only had Doris be the point of rage for the Un-Sub. The only thing she really did was be good at her job. She also loves Rowena and that is her daughter in her mind. She still wants Reid to be her dad. She's not jealous towards him.
Another note, I was having fun playing around with words and I just left the personnel in there.
Rowena is not showing any signs of mental issues. She is also physically fit. So she would be able to do anything she wanted. You are right that math and science and music operate in the same part of the brain. She does however not mind being outside.
Chapter 14 The Jet Home
The team took off later that day on the jet. Has the plane took off, Reid watched out the window. He watched the state of California, and ultimately, his daughter disappear from him.
Reid was grateful that he did get to see Rowena before they left. Mary Anne and Doris had brought Rowena with them to the station to see the team off.
Rowena had thanked the team repeatedly for finding her mum.
During that time Reid had managed to say good-bye to Rowena without his emotions showing.
Once the plane had leveled and the team relaxed. Reid took the seat at the table where J.J. was playing with a deck of cards. Reid reached inside of his messenger bag and pulled out the photobook that Mary Anne had given him. He placed it up on the table.
"What's this?" J.J. asked looking at the book.
"Mary Anne gave me this." Reid answered. "It's pictures of Rowena, growing up."
"I want to see what a Baby Reid would look like." J.J. said turning the book so she could see.
Morgan and Prentiss both gathered around the table to look at the pictures.
Reid opened the first page up for the team to see. He had already gone through the book.
On the first page, it was a picture of Rowena right after she was born.
Underneath the photo was her full name.
Rowena
From Ivanhoe.
The first classic book I read that had not been assigned by a teacher.
Ada
From Augusta Ada Lovelace.
"Who is Augusta Lovelace?" Morgan asked, not recognizing the name.
"Garcia would be so mad at you right now." Prentiss laughed.
"Who is she?" Morgan asked. He did not believe he was actually asking for an answer from Reid.
"Augusta Ada Lovelace lived from 1815 – 1852." Reid began. "She was the daughter of poet Lord Byron. She studied under professors at the University of Cambridge. Her mom forced her to study math. Her mom didn't want Ada to learn poetry and develop what she considered her father's madness. Ada was invited to see a calculating machine that eventually became the first computer."
"She wrote code for the machine." J.J. finished. "She wrote language for computers before the invention of computers."
"Ouch" Rossi said to Hotch has they listened to the conversation.
Reid continued to turn the pages of the book for the team.
The pictures were done in chronological order. The team watched Rowena growing up.
Prentiss and J.J. laughed at pictures of Rowena balancing herself after she had learned to walk. J.J. admired the picture of her first day of school. She was in polka-dot skirt and graphic t-shirt.
The next picture was of Rowena in her Halloween costume, it was of her as a kitten. This had drawn awes from J.J. and Prentiss.
Reid turned the pages to the pictures of Rowena with her instruments. "She's musically inclined. She can play the penny whistle, a lap harp, and she plays the piano and organ for church. She's learning to play the violin now."
"That is impressive." Prentiss said.
Reid turned the book, knowing the next pictures would bring several reactions from the team.
"Reid, is that your daughter." Morgan said looking at the picture of Rowena has she crossed the finishing line.
"That's her first 5K." Reid answered.
"Her first?" Prentiss asked.
"She's going to run a third." Reid said calmly. "She wants to do a triathlon by High School."
Reid turned the page and showed the next picture of Rowena playing basketball with her cousins.
"Basketball. She's athletic." Morgan commented.
Hotch turned to look at Reid. "Are you sure you don't want to ask for a paternity test?"
Prentiss laughed at that. She turned the page, eager to see what was next.
It was the group of pictures from when Rowena was in Kentucky.
The pictures showed Rowena with the farm animals and the crops on the farm.
A turn of the pages brought the pictures that Reid knew would bring the strongest reactions from the team.
The next picture the team looked at was of Rowena with a compound bow. Her uncle was behind her clearly teaching her the proper technique. The picture beside it showed the several arrows in and around the center of the bullseye.
"Wow. She's a good shot." Morgan commented.
"Yeah," Reid said. "She's only ever shot at targets."
"She looks like a Katniss Everdeen there." J.J. said admiring the picture.
"Who's Katniss Everdeen?" Reid asked.
There was a familiar sound of snorts and slight laughter from the team.
"I'll give you the book." J.J. said. "Its science fiction so I think you should like it."
Reid knew the picture and evidence that was coming up next.
Morgan's eyes went wide at the picture. J.J. covered her mouth with her hand. Prentiss pointed towards the picture and then at Reid.
"Mary Anne allowed this." Prentiss asked.
That statement brought Rossi and Hotch's curiosity to the table to view the picture.
The team stared at a picture of Rowena with a rifle firing at what looked like a range. The next page was the target. All rounds were within the bullseye.
"Think of it this way kid," Rossi said. "You won't have to worry about teenage boys."
"Athletic. Able to fire a bow and a rifle." Morgan started. "Reid I know you trust Mary Anne, but I really think you should take Hotch's advices about a paternity test."
"Mary Anne says that Rowena is a strong argument for nature vs nurture." Reid said. "That Rowena's athletic ability and her strength is a result of Doris."
"You said Rowena wasn't that good in school" J.J. said.
This got a quirk from Prentiss and Rossi.
"Mary Anne said that was from her." Reid replied.
"Tell us about her." Morgan said. "She obviously met something to you."
Reid figured that it was time to tell the team about Mary Anne.
"Mary Anne was born a princess. Her family had money. She was also considered to be very beautiful. I've never met her parents. Based upon her stories I didn't want to. She often described her parents has been driven towards her success. Mary Anne's mother got her involved in pageants and had gotten her minor acting roles as a child. She played child victims in a couple of crime dramas and patients in medical shows."
Reid felt good letting this out.
"Mary Anne's mother was a stage-mother." J.J. confirmed.
Reid nodded in acknowledgement. "When Mary Anne hit adolescence she became rebellious. Instead of the usual methods of dressing in certain fashions and minor criminal activity she decided to develop her mind instead. Mary Anne never described herself as overly intelligent. She was driven though."
"How did you meet?" Prentiss asked.
"At the library. I was answering an ad requesting a tutor. She hired me to help her with college. The money was more than I expected. I had misjudged her when we first met. I thought she was just a princess who expected to skate by on her looks rather than study."
"She wasn't then." J.J. guessed.
"I figured her problem was that no one had taught her study habits and how to take notes. She also lacked confidence in her own mind. She could act just fine with written lines, she was trained for that. When it came from her, she didn't know how."
"How did her parents take to her stepping away from the spotlight?" Morgan asked figuring the answer.
"Mary Anne was more or less shunned. Her parents still paid for the education, because that money was already there set aside at birth. It really wasn't a great loss for them."
"What about with Rowena? Did she tell them about you?" Rossi asked.
"Based upon the stories that Mary Anne told me, and she is in agreement, I profiled both of them has narcissists and eugenics. She purposely didn't tell them that I was the father or anything about me. They would have been furious because I had been tutoring her. They would also find out about my parents. To them it would be a weapon against me."
"Mary Anne was afraid they would come after you. She was protecting you." Rossi said. He was tempted to meet these people and serve them a taste of what he thought of them.
"Yes," Reid said. "I don't know if I could have handled that back then. I still don't want to meet them."
"What does Doris think of them?" Morgan asked.
"She made the joke that she would have preferred having members of the Manson Family for in-laws." Reid answered.
The team didn't know how to react to that. It really wasn't a joke for those who chased serial killers.
"I told Mary Anne that I did not want Rowena to spend any time alone with them." Reid said. "Doris grew up with a strong family structure, even she agreed."
"What about Doris?" Prentiss asked. "The way you describe them it sounds like they wouldn't have approved."
"Actually it helped put her back in their good graces. They wanted to be scene has tolerant. They were disappointed that Rowena wasn't a little lady. Rowena beating her boy cousin in a game of basketball didn't sit well."
"Reid, Rowena is growing up to be a badass. Did she inherit anything from you?" Morgan asked.
"I think she looks your mom." J.J. said.
"Mary Anne didn't outright blame this on me. I know it didn't come from her. She hated the movies." Reid opened the page to the Halloween of the previous year. It was Rowena dressed has Princess Leia from Return of the Jedi in the camouflage gear she wore on the moon of Endor. Beside her was her friend Kyle dressed as Luke Skywalker.
"Now that is on you." Prentiss said.